Tag Archives: Dennis Hastert

Rep. Kevin McCarthy‘s shocking announcement that he would drop his bid for House speaker could put Republicans at a disadvantage in one of the most vital aspects of the next election: fundraising. Absent the saving grace of a certain House Ways and Means chairman, that is. When McCarthy backed out, that left two relatively inexperienced fundraisers…

Former House Speaker Dennis Hastert‘s (R-Ill.) indictment Thursday by the Justice Department on charges of evading cash transaction reporting requirements and lying to the FBI came as something of a shock to many, in part because Hastert has led a pretty low-key life as a lobbyist at Dickstein Shapiro LLP since leaving Congress in 2007. In…

Liz Fowler, a Senate staffer who helped write the Democrat’s landmark health care reform legislation after serving as a health insurance industry executive, is now moving up to help implement the new law. But her appointment has drawn outrage from liberal bloggers and activists who call it an unacceptable example of industry influencing policy and a violation of Obama’s promise to end the revolving door between the lobbying industry and the government.

Disgraced former lobbyist Jack Abramoff is out of the slammer, CNN has reported. Four years ago, Abramoff pled guilty to several charges related to defrauding millions from Indian tribes he represented as a lobbyist and corrupting public officials.

Organizations in the financial services sector have deployed at least 1,447 former federal employees to lobby Congress and federal agencies since the beginning of 2009, according to a joint analysis of federal disclosure records and other data released today by Public Citizen and the Center for Responsive Politics.

In 2009 alone, Toyota employed 31 federal lobbyists — including a former member of Congress and numerous ex-congressional staffers — and spent nearly $5.4 million to lobby the federal government, a Center for Responsive Politics analysis indicates.

At least 44 lawmakers have left their congressional seats mid-term since 1990, and at least 16 of them went on to work at lobbying firms or at companies that hired lobbyists, CRP has found. Here, we take a closer look at a few of these individuals, examining which industries and clients they’re now representing and the campaign cash they received while in Congress.

What do magazine publishers, a railroad and Microsoft have in common with Indian tribes? They were all clients of lobbyist Jack Abramoff, the central figure in the corruption scandal unfolding in Washington. And during the time Abramoff represented them, they all made campaign contributions to members of Congress and President Bush.

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